Friday, July 31, 2009

Doctors aren't played out.


Where do I begin? There are so many wonderful comics out there. I love so many of them so dearly. My feelings for these webcomics makes it difficult to decide which one to write about first. Two things have since convinced me to write about this particular comic to start things off. First of all, he’s the only writer who’s emailed me back thus far, and secondly, it seems to me that it is vastly under appreciated. I say this because I don’t personally know anyone who reads it, though I do know people who read just about everything else.

I’m going to talk about… (drum roll, applause, etc…) DR. MCNINJA! This is a comic that absolutely everyone should be reading, including your grandmother. It’s the epitome of delightfulness, with new comics every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Why do I love it so much? The real question should be, what sort of person doesn’t love it? Okay I suppose I ought to be serious. Chris Hastings (the writer) doesn’t draw four panels and throw in a punch line. He has highly detailed and lengthy story arcs in which something meaningful actually happens. Sometimes there are villains, sometimes there are evil corporations, and sometimes there are men with muscles that frighten people!

Despite all of these serious happenings, it’s quite possibly one of the most hilarious things you will ever read. It’s off the wall and ridiculous in a highly plausible sort of way. For example if you knew an archaeologist who had cloned some velociraptors and had a girlfriend on Myspace, it would follow that if she dumped him, he might just become a bandito and ride velociraptors everywhere while trying to exact his revenge. When you first begin reading the comic you’re struck by the overwhelming insanity that dominates the world in which Doctor McNinja lives. After issue however, you suddenly realize that this stuff is normal. Suddenly, hiring a gorilla named Judy as your receptionist at the doctor’s office doesn’t seem so strange.

That’s probably the most impressive thing about the comic, the level that it operates on. Most readers demand some sensibility in what they read, and oddly enough Dr. McNinja's followers say things like, “There’s no sound in space!” while forgetting that he’s surfing a robot-Dracula to the Earth’s surface. That’s like waking up in the morning with your house underwater and complaining that you’ve run out of butter. It’s a complete brain buster. Zombie ninjas are normal, but the laws of physics should be obeyed.

I mustn’t forget the thing that makes this comic so enjoyable within all of its quirks: artwork. Not only is Mr. Hastings a creative genius in the writing department, his drawings are also amazing. Not all comics call for dynamic paneling, in fact, the majority of webcomics don’t, but the action packed issues of Dr. McNinja need something to encourage the thrill of the storyline, and Chris has nailed it down. The panels have very clean edges and lend a lot to the art contained within.

Let’s not forget the team that supports the artwork either! Kent Archer, Carly Monardo, the puppet, and Anthony Clark, who is incidentally one of the most handsome individuals you will ever see. Anyway, these wonderful people are responsible for the other stuff, like color and ink, things that matter. Without them the comic would be less wonderful than it is.

EDIT: As suggested by one of my readers (OMG a reader!!!) I should probably mention some stuff about what kind of readers it might pull and attach a numerical rating to it, so here goes: This is a comic for escapists who happen to like Ninja doctors that reside in a world where anything can and does happen.

Dr. McNinja gets a screaming 9.7 out of 10.

Chris is filling out a questionnaire for me, so I’ll post again when he’s done!

Dave *_*

2 comments:

  1. I'll be sure to check it out. (Andrew Again. Manga, etc.)

    >Epitome of delightfulness

    Damnit, now there's soda all over my monitor. thanks, Dave. >:[

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  2. Well before today i had no idea that "sicknasty" was a word. ;)

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